1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera control system, apparatus, and method, which can change the image pickup conditions and the like of a camera by remote control.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a camera control system such as a monitor camera system that can control a video input device from a remote place is known. In such system, it is a common practice to control a plurality of cameras by a single supervisor. That is, the number of video input devices is larger than that of supervisors, and a plurality of supervisors never control a single video input device.
In recent years, since the Internet and the like have become prevalent, a demand has arisen for observing an image captured by a single video input device or controlling the video input device by a plurality of users. In such case, a mechanism for managing control requests from remote places to a plurality of video input devices is required. When a plurality of users want to control a single video input device, control requests may collide among the plurality of users. Hence, the control authority to the video input device must be appropriately managed and controlled.
In consideration of such technical trend, Japanese Patent Application No. 08-192585 has proposed a camera control system which manages control requests and the control authority to a camera, so that users who requested the camera control authority can be granted the camera control authority in turn with an elapse of time, and can control the camera.
In the camera control system of the above reference, when a plurality of users (client devices) issue camera control authority requests to a camera control device, the camera control device appropriately controls the passing of the camera control authority among the plurality of client devices. For this reason, the control authority of the video input device and its possession can be managed according to the time elapsed, and many users can control a single camera.